I posted this question on WOB, but I wanted to post it here too, just incase there are people here that have different/better ideas, and vice versa.

I am moving some snake around to fund a pied project, but I'm wondering what the best way to start is...


Should I get a het trio (1.2), or go the route of getting a visual male and het pied female, or het male and a visual female? I don't think I will have enough money to get a visual and 2 hets, unless I can find them for CRAZY cheap. Here are some of my thoughts going into this process...

  1. I really like the idea of getting a visual female, and then either pairing her with a het... or pairing her with a mojave to make hets for White Gold... (question about that below).
  2. If I get a visual male, I then have to find hets or visuals that are large enough to breed, or get them small and wait for them to grow.
  3. I think the cheapest way to get into the pied mix is the 1.2 het trio, but it has the most risk (making sure the snakes I get are actually het pied) and the lowest chance of producing what I actually want.


With the above options, what am I missing when trying to find a good setup for the future? I like the idea of having a visual female, because then if I decide to change directions with a pied project (like going from White Golds to Pumpkin Pied), I don't have to worry about growing another female. I can make/buy the het male, and roll the dice that way (instead of having to wait three years while I grow a het female). At least with males they can be ready to go in 12-18 months.


Is there a better way to go trying to get into the Pied market? I don't care which morph sells for what amount, or any of that crap... I am just trying to start with the best possible situation, so that I don't have to "restart" later. I want to build a solid foundation, instead of getting a bunch of "junk morphs" that I don't really like just to sell them later on down the road.


For those of you with established Pied projects, what did you wish you knew before you got into the morph? For those of you just getting started in the morph, what did you find allowed you to get in the fastest? And for those in my situation (looking in from the outside), what are your thoughts as to how to start?